Back in Texas Again

Rocky Point Army Corp of Engineer Park

This beautiful Army Corp Park on Wright Patman Lake just south of Texarkana was a great place to make a five day stop. We arrived on September 14. Since we spanned a weekend, we were able to visit First Lutheran Church in Texarkana where Scott Sundbye is now the pastor. We had a level cement pad, so we were able to easily clean the roof and dry wash our motorhome.

We had a beautiful site right on the lake.

Lone Star Corral - Hondo, Texas

By the end of September, we made our way to the SKP Coop Park in Hondo, just west of San Antonio, where we made our home base for about a month.

Witte Museum

We made a day trip into downtown San Antonio to visit the Witte Museum. The museum has collections featuring historic artifacts and photographs, Texas art, textiles, dinosaur bones, cave drawings, and Texas wildlife dioramas.

Laika Cheesecake

After visiting the Witte Museum, we stopped at Laika Cheesecake.

There were four different kinds of cheesecake offered, Picnic in Space, Carrot Apple, Milky Way Buffet and the cheesecake of the day was Chi Tea.

We took home slices to eat later. Kurt ordered the Picnic in Space, which was a lemon cheesecake with blueberry and meringue. Virginia order Milky Way buffet which was lots of chocolate with an Oreo crust.

Fredericksburg, Texas

We took a day trip to the Old German town of Fredericksburg, about 86 miles north in the Texas Hill Country.

National Museum of the Pacific War

We spent most of the day at the National Museum of the Pacific War. We hadn't been here in almost 30 years. A lot has changed. The museum was greatly expanded by the addition of the George H. W. Bush Gallery. The Gallery is a journey through per-war history and key battles of the Pacific War during WWII, rich with stories and artifacts that bring them to life.

The George H. W. Bush Gallery opened in 1991.

Japanese Midget Submarine which carries two torpedoes.

This B-25 bomber is showcased in the Doolittle Exhibit at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg. The B-25 is the plane that was launched from an aircraft carrier in the first attack on mainland Japan.

Restored World War II PT Boat on display in the Pacific Combat Zone.

The F4F "Wildcat" Fighter

A converted Higgins Boat became an Admiral's Barge, similar to the one used by Admiral Chester Nimitz at Pearl Harbor from 1942 to 1944.

The Historic Nimitz Hotel which became the first Gallery of the Nimitz Museum.

After spending the day touring the museum, we had an authentic German dinner at the Auslander Restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg.

Annular Solar Eclipse

We were fortunate to be in Hondo, which was in the center of the eclipse path, to view the complete "Ring of Fire" on Saturday, October 14, 2023.

Purchasing the solar glasses allowed us to view the event.

We watched four minutes of complete coverage of the sun.

Texas State Fair

On October 16 we drove to Dallas for two nights to attend the Texas State Fair with Brian and Laura. We stayed at a Fairfield Inn near downtown Dallas. On Tuesday morning we parked at the garage of Brian and Laura's Air BnB which was adjacent to a DART rail station. The DART dropped us off at the main gate of the fairgrounds.

Our first stop was the Automobile Building. We were there when the doors opened at 10 am.

Brian and Laura enjoying Fried Pizza.